NEW MEDIA OF EUROMAIDAN: ONLINE INSTRUMENTS TO DEFEND DEMOCRACY (original) (raw)
Related papers
Natalya Ryabinska: Ukrainian Euromaidan Protests and the New Media
R/evolutions: VOLUME 2: NEW AND SOCIAL MEDIA… & REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN AFRICA, Vol 2, Issue 1, June 2014, p. 128 - 141
In late 2013, eight years after the Orange Revolution Ukraine has again become the site of mass protests, this time against the government’s decision on November 21 to stop the integration with the European Union and end the pursuit of the association agreement. The new media played a key role in the protests from the very beginning. This paper is a contribution to the discussion on how these new media were used during the so-called Euromaidan protests in Ukraine in November 2013-February 2014 and how the protests in turn contributed to the popularity of the new media in the country.
Unexpected Revolution: The Role of Social Media in Ukraine’s Euromaidan Uprising
As people become increasingly connected online, more and more social and political movements sparked by new information and communication technologies (ICTs) emerge around the world. While these technologies enable quick mobilisation of a large number of participants for a particular cause, not all social media-empowered initiatives are equally successful in becoming sustainable and achieving their goals. This paper examines the role of social media in Ukraine’s recent Euromaidan uprising. In particular, it looks at the strategic ways in which activists have used social media for protest mobilisation, internal and external communication and organising. It concludes by discussing the limits to the use of technology in Euromaidan as well as the particular challenges of online organising. Key words: Social media – Social networks – ICTs – Social movements – Euromaidan – Ukraine – Protests – Facebook
Digital media in a contemporary conflict – example of Ukraine
2019
The ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia provides many examples of using media, including technologically new ones, to conduct information warfare. The article focuses on the issue of the importance of digital media in the context of war in eastern Ukraine and socio-political protests (2013/2014) that preceded the armed conflict. This article analyzes the methods of instrumental usage of digital media by Russia as the dominant entity in conducting aggressive information warfare against Ukraine as well as civic actions on the Ukrainian side aimed at counteracting Russian propaganda. The results show that, in the times of the mediatization of war, different entities tend to actively use both traditional media present in the digital space and social media. In addition, this work systematizes the conceptual apparatus related to the discussed issues. The article is based on the analysis of case studies (mainly Russian RT and Ukrainian, social initiative StopFake), content analysis...
Digital media practices in a conflict setting: Ukraine after the Maidan
Central European Journal of Communication
This article is a qualitative investigation of the mechanisms of reproduction of national identity narratives through digital media practices of hybrid populations in a conflict context using the example of Ukraine after the outbreak of the conflict with Russia. The article is based on a collection of 14 in-depth interviews with Russian-speaking Ukrainians from various regions. The findings point to several conclusions: first, hybrid/heterogeneous media practices are not always accompanied by high engagement. However, diverse heterogeneous and non-diverse homogeneous practices characterized by high engagement produced opposing narratives of national identity in the post-change Ukraine: a nation-centered interpretation of national identity homogeneous versus a universalistic post-national interpretation heterogeneous.
Framing the revolution: the role of social media in Ukraine's Euromaidan movement
Nationalities Papers, 2017
The role of social media as a tool of mobilization, communication, and organization of social movements has been well documented since the Arab Spring. The public information posted on social media sites also presents researchers with a unique tool to study protests movements from within. The proposed study utilizes the theoretical foundation of issue framing literature and examines the social media framing of the Ukrainian Euromaidan protest movement. The original dataset traces the activities of the users on the social media site Facebook from 21 November 2013 to February 2014. While foreign media sources portrayed the Ukrainian crisis as a geopolitical struggle, the results of our analysis show that the participants of the protest conceptualized their movement in terms of domestic issues and an anti-regime revolution rather than a geopolitical crossroad between the EU and Russia. This study contributes to our understanding of the role social media sites play in the activities of ...
The Media Battles of Ukraine's Euro Maidan
In November 2013, mass protests broke out in Ukraine when President Yanukovych chose not to sign a planned Association Agreement with the European Union. Kyiv's Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) became 'EuroMaidan' as huge crowds of demonstrators expressed their anger at the government. This essay examines the part played by journalists during EuroMaidan and the struggles around media resources that were central to these dramatic recent events in Ukrainian politics. Attention is devoted to journalist activism and use of social networks; the emergence of new information sources; and the behaviour of leading national TV channels. Attempts to suppress anti-government narratives are described and their impact assessed. The essay identifies three weaknesses which combined to undermine Yanukovych's position in the 'battle for the narrative': (1) dissent and activism among Ukraine's professional journalist community; (2) the autonomous nature and increasing accessibility of online communication; and (3) the sensitivity of media-owning oligarchs to public and international opinion.
Central European Journal of Communication
As the social media increasingly proliferate and shape media consumption in the present-day world, journalists growingly turn to them in search of direct access to their audiences. Under conditions of restricted media freedom, such access suggests a great asset both to journalists who can engage into an open discussion with a wider public and to the very public. In Ukraine, both trends had been vivid in recent years preceding the Euromaidan: on the one hand, media freedom had been deteriorating, but on the other hand, journalists had been utilizing social media more actively. The article examines how Ukrainian journalists communicated with their audiences via Facebook. In particular, it analyzes patterns of interaction during the 2012 parliamentary election campaign. The results of the study show a substantial level of confusion among Ukrainian journalists regarding the role of public debate on Facebook in 2012–2013. While journalists tended to dismiss users’ comments as mostly irre...
In democratic political regimes, media have prolongedly been identifying flaws of the system and fostering active participation of citizens. Authoritarian governments—on the contrary—have been using the same communication means for the purposes of propaganda distribution and minimisation of public disagreements. However, the ability of media to influence social and political life in both regime types has been arguably increasing with the development of new technologies. This essay attempts to confirm the aforementioned argument and claims that new media indeed generate greater public activism. Firstly, the paper provides definitions of the potentially vague terms ‘new media’ and ‘political activism’ to eliminate the possibility of the research misinterpretation. Secondly, it inspects the confronting theoretical models which underpin the considered discussion. Thirdly, this essay introduces the case studies of the 2011 protests ‘For Fair Elections’ and 2017 anti-corruption demonstrations in Russia to illustrate by their examples in what ways new media can increase political activism. Fourthly, the essay considers the two major limitations of the Russian new media in generating political activism, which are their generally low popularity and disproportion in the age of the followers. Finally, the conclusive paragraph summarises the conducted analysis and provides recommendations for the further research.
2016
As the social media increasingly proliferate and shape media consumption in the present-day world, journalists growingly turn to them in search of direct access to their audiences. Under conditions of restricted media freedom, such access suggests a great asset both to journalists who can engage into an open discussion with a wider public and to the very public. In Ukraine, both trends had been vivid in recent years preceding the Euromaidan: on the one hand, media freedom had been deteriorating, but on the other hand, journalists had been utilizing social media more actively. Th e article examines how Ukrainian journalists communicated with their audiences via Facebook. In particular, it analyzes patterns of interaction during the 2012 parliamentary election campaign. Th e results of the study show a substantial level of confusion among Ukrainian journalists regarding the role of public debate on Facebook in 2012–2013. While journalists tended to dismiss users’ comments as mostly ir...